Start As You Mean To Go On: The Importance of Onboarding and Induction Training
I read an article in HR Magazine last week where Lenovo’s head of talent development, Maxim Strashun had been speaking at the HR Directors Business Summit about the most demotivating business behaviours and ‘what not to do around employee engagement’.
One of the areas he touched on was not being ready for a new employee on their first day at work and it got me thinking back to my first day with one of my past employers.
The recruitment and selection process had been quite arduous and I was delighted to be offered the role as Senior HR Business Partner for a start-up operation. I arrived on my first day and met my new assistant (with whom I immediately bonded) and we were shown to our new office.
The office was lovely; spacious, lots of natural light and smart new furniture (with the exception of the bright purple filing cabinets!) … so far so good. There were also a lot of unopened boxes on the floor, which seemed a bit odd. On inspection we quickly realised that they contained our laptops, desk computers, mobile phones, printer, fax machine etc and it became clear that we were expected to set them all up ourselves.
It’s fair to say that neither of us were (or still are) ‘techies’ but luckily we shared the same disposition when it came to turning on vulnerable charm and seeking help. It was only a matter of minutes before we acquired a new best friend in the shape of one of the senior IT guys who was on site that day. ‘Photocopier Man’ as we affectionately nicknamed him generously donated most of his day helping us unpack, setting up our technical equipment and getting us logged on to the systems.
As explained by Strashun, one way to demotivate someone on their very first day is not to be ready for them “No computer, no password … right away they feel demotivated.”
The fix is simple: be prepared for new employees and make them feel welcome and part of the team from day one. We can help you figure out an onboarding and induction process for new starters in your company – contact us using the form on the right for more information.
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